A Thousand Summers: Kagerou Days
by HalberdGenesis
Summary: The story of two children, and the end of eternity. The story of a monster, and the beginning. The story that will overwhelm your eyes.
1. Chapter 1

I wake up around midnight from a dream I can't remember. The hot summer air hangs over me like a shroud, and I sit listening to the stillness of the night. I exhale and take a brief inventory of my surroundings. Instinctively, I turn my head to look over at Hiyori, sleeping peacefully on the bed opposite me. I sit up, throw the covers off, and stumble down the hallway into the bathroom for a drink. I check the calendar on my phone. August 15. A sound like cicadas chirping comes from outside, but I'm certain I'm just imagining it. I'm certain I imagined all of it.

I take a cup, fill it with water from the tap and drink. The relief from the heat and the feeling of water rushing down my throat is refreshing. I still can't remember the events of my dream, but my shoulders are tense and my heart's beating rapidly. A thin layer of anxiety hangs in the back of my mind, but it's suppressed by the serenity of the night. I try to recall something from the dream, to retrace my steps mentally. I take another sip of water and move to the door. Suddenly, an image arises and I feel sick to my stomach. It's so visceral, so immediate, that I stumble to my knees. The same terror that gripped me while I was asleep finds me again. I curl into a ball, glancing wildly from side to side. Afraid to dig any further or recall the image again, I take another drink of water and slump back against the wall. My breathing slows down. After a while, I slowly get back to my feet, tiptoe down the hall and slip back into bed. The heavy sheets engulf me in a feeling of safety. The cicadas slowly lull me back to sleep. My thoughts linger on Hiyori as I drift into unconsciousness. Then the veil of sleep closes over me again and I'm dead to the world.

I wake up again at...11:45, according to my phone. Hiyori's gone. I've learned a couple of things about her on this trip. Firstly, she wakes up at the crack of dawn every morning. She'll creep silently down the hall, fix breakfast for everyone, then play with her cat or whatever 'till we all wake up. I, on the other hand, will sleep indefinitely. I am incapable of waking up on my own. I'd still be asleep if my phone hadn't buzzed with a text. I groggily slip my phone out of my pocket and check my messages.

_Hibiya, I'm at the park on Yasuhiro blvd, about three blocks from our house. If you can make it in under fifteen minutes, come on over; if not, have Chi drive you down here. See you there!~H._

Secondly, she's impatient. She won't waste a single extra second on something she doesn't think deserves her time. I've learned over and over again on this trip not to keep her waiting.

I'm up and dressed in a matter of seconds. Any semblance of fatigue disappears the second I read her message. Her older sister, Chinatsu Asahina, whom Hiyori calls Chi is asleep on the couch, so I don't bother her. I sprint downstairs and out the door. As I turn back just before I slam the door shut, I see a little paper crane in Chinatsu's lap. Hiyori must have left it there. I smile a little, then take off down the sidewalk.

Within a few minutes, I'm at the park, gasping for breath. I look up and she's there, sitting on a swing, petting her cat Mei. She's absolutely captivating. I know it sounds cliche, but she really is flower-like, sitting upon the swing with the hem of her dress gently moving in the weak breeze. She seems so soft. So fragile. Suddenly, a fountain of almost paternal feelings bursts within me. I need to protect her. _From what,_ I ask myself. Hiyori can take care of herself. If she knew I was thinking about her like a child, she'd beat the crap out of me and then take me shopping with her. I laugh a little bit at the thought. My smile disappears when a trace of the images resurfaces. I get the nagging feeling that it involves her somehow. But I force the thought out of my mind and look at her again. I get a fluttering, bubbly feeling in my throat whenever I see her. She looks so serene and happy in the summer air. I walk toward the swing set, sit down, and for long, long time, we're silent.

The heat bears down on us, and the small pond in the corner of the park only contributes to the humidity. I look at her message again. There's nothing to indicate that she knows how I feel about her, much less if she reciprocates the feeling. I want so badly to be able to tell her. Can I afford to? I don't think I have the strength of will to handle her rejecting me. Once again, I decide to bide my time. There will be another chance.

"I kind of…"

I turn at the sound of her voice. She has a troubled look on her face, and she holds Mei a little closer.

"I kind of hate summer", she murmurs. I cock an eyebrow and she gives me a blank look with a small hint of surprise, almost like she wasn't aware she said it out loud. Then she smiles and laughs a bit. I decide to change the subject and, like an idiot, I bring up the weather. "It's hot, Hibiya. What do you want from me?", she says with another little laugh. I gulp and look down at my shoes. I'm racking my brain, but I can't think of what I could say to her. I decide to bring up what she said again. "Hiyori?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you say you hate summer?"

"It burns the life from the world and it goes on forever. The heat's so repressive. I feel like I'm choking."

That shuts me up. Maybe this trip wasn't such a good idea after all. She seems to share my sentiments, because she gets up to leave and I follow close behind.

We make our way through the gate and step out onto the sidewalk. The heat from the pavement is visible in waves. Suddenly, Mei gets loose and runs out into the street. Hiyori chases after her, running out into the intersection.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see something. The streetlight. As I watch it, it changes from a soft green to a glaring red. Hiyori scoops up Mei, and opens her mouth to chastise her for running off like that. A bead of sweat slips down my forehead. Hiyori glances sidelong at me, eyes full of vitality. But the instant before the semi truck plows into her, as she casually draws in her final breath, I see something else in her eyes. Sadness. A dull sadness at a necessary evil. She's been hiding so much pain all her life, and a tenth of a second before the truck blindsides her, it leaks out through her eyes into mine. Then the truck makes contact and time resumes.

For a moment, I can't move. The air has been sucked from my lungs and I'm getting tunnel vision. Then I notice the blood. On the street, on the curb, on...on me. Blood is covering me, thick around my chest and in flecks on my face. The blood seems to cancel out all of the color in the world. Everything around me seems a harsh, bleached white. I look back at the blood again, unsure if it's even real. I take a tentative breath and notice the nauseating metallic smell. It begins to dawn on me that it's her blood. Hiyori. The second the name crosses my mind I can move agian. I stumble into the street as the world seems to pitch and warp around me. I feel nauseous and lightheaded, so I put a hand on the truck to steady myself. The metal surface burns, pulling me out of my stupor a bit. I stagger past the cabin of the truck and slowly peak around the corner to see Hiyori sprawled across the ground. The blood pools around her, thicker and darker than the blood on my clothes. Her black hair is disheveled, covering her face. She's completely still, unnaturally so. I feel acidic bile rushing up my throat, and I clasp my hand over my mouth and nose to avoid vomiting. I'm strangely aware of the heat now. My knees buckle and I collapse against the pavement.

I lift my head up to look at Hiyori. I think of her text message. I think of the rise and fall of her chest when she's asleep. I think of her soft laugh when she plays with Mei. I think of the mix of fear and elation when she met Chi for the first time in years. And I think of the way she peaceful and dignified smile she wore mere moments ago. I look at the bloody shape in front of me. It's not her. It can't be her. This thing isn't real. The image in my mind of Hiyori and the image I see before me, this lifeless red lump on the ground, do not match up. Suddenly my vision blurs and shatters, like an image through a kalleidoscope with a melting lens. I realize that these are tears welling up in my eyes. It is her. It's Hiyori. The Hiyori I know is gone forever.

I want to scream, to run, to throw myself into the street and die with her, but the traffic has stopped. I cradle her head in my arms. She's so heavy and limp. The tears are flowing freely now. I hold her body close to mine, tighter and tighter as the warmth begins to leave her body and dissipate into the summer air. My mouth is dry, and I try to form words, but I feel like I'm going to vomit again. I clench my fist and holder closer to me, trying desperately to squeeze some life back into her. I take a breath and, though I feel like I'm shouting, I'm only able to whisper. "I love you."

Then the world melts around me and I succumb to unconsciousness.

I wake up around midnight from a dream I can't remember. The hot summer air hangs over me like a shroud, and I sit listening to the stillness of the night. I exhale and take a brief inventory of my surroundings. Instinctively, I turn my head to look over at Hiyori, sleeping peacefully on the bed opposite me. I sit up, throw the covers off, and stumble down the hallway into the bathroom for a drink. I check the calendar on my phone. August 15. A sound like cicadas chirping comes from outside, but I'm certain I'm just imagining it. I'm certain I imagined all of it.


	2. Hot and Cold

Gently, gently, she awoke, shivering. She hated the cold almost as much as her snakes did. The frigid air bit at her bare skin no matter how tightly she curled her body. The air was damp. The world was still dark and empty in those days, but only the cave was cold. Every night, her snakes would venture out into The World, where there was Heat, and bring back gifts in the form of information.

The Snake of Concealing Eyes spoke first. The dim moonlight sneaking in from the mouth of the cave illuminated her black scales.

"I have found Communication."

Azami had not heard that word before. "Proceed".

"Communication is the way humans and animals exchange information with one another. You and I are communicating now."

She nodded, satisfied (for it seemed simple enough), then looked toward the Snake of Stealing Eyes.

"I have found Denial. When the reality humans face is too difficult for them to address, they shut it out and create a false one."

"Is this different from Imagination?"

"Yes. Denial is Imagination to an unhealthy degree".

She closed her eyes. How absurd, that humans, in their undying hubris, would endeavor to create an entire world suited to their desires. "I see."

The Snake of Retaining Eyes was next.

"I have found Loneliness. Loneliness is the longing humans feel for the presence of another. It can drive them to do terrible things."

Azami's eyes narrowed with the pain of recognition. She nodded, cold as the air around her, for the Snake of Clearing Eyes to slither forward and report his findings.

"I have found...Love."

The word was alien to her, more so than the rest. "Go on."

"When two humans who were previously lonely make a promise to stay with the other forever, it is called Love. Occasionally, from this Love, a smaller human will spring forth. This is how the humans continue to exist. Time kills them, but does so slowly, and before it can take them completely, they will cooperate to create more humans to take their place. This is called a Family. The small human is called a Child.

"The Child knows nothing about the world, and so the humans from whence it came must teach it as we are teaching you. Then, when it grows old, it will become lonely, find

another human, and the cycle will continue."

Love.

The word seemed delicate, fragile. She regarded it with a cold indifference, or tried to. Something kept her from dismissing it outright.

A cycle. It seemed so futile.

* * *

I wake up, panting. I rip my phone out of my pocket and check the calendar. 11:45, August 15th. One new text message. An invitation to the park.

Fuck.

I have to warn her.

I sprint downstairs and open the door to the garage, probably waking Chi up as I slam the door behind me, but I don't care, I have to save her.

I have to save her.

The garage door rolls upward too slowly, so I shove my bike out under the door and crawl after it. The kickstand makes a scraping noise as it grinds against the pavement. I jump to my feet, retract the stand, and take off on the bike towards the park. Gripping the handlebar with my left hand, I reach into my pocket for my phone and dial Hiyori's number.

"Hibiya?"

"Hiyori, are you still at the park?"

"Yeah, is something wrong?"

"Yes, just stay there, okay? I'll be right there."

"What's going on?"

"I just need to know that you're safe."

"Hibiya, I'm fine. What's going on?"

"I don't know. We can figure it out when I get there, but I need you to trust me and stay safe"

"I..."

The line goes silent for a brief, terrifying moment.

"Okay. I'm trusting you."

"All right. I'll be there soon."

I've done this three times already, and she's died a different way each time. When I reach the park, I'm having an honest-to-God panic attack.

"Hibiya?"

If I weren't hyperventilating, my breath would catch in my throat.

"Hibiya, you rode your bike here? We're in a heat wave!"

I want to protest, but I throw up instead. The physical exhaustion hits me like a tru-

...

Like a train.

"I'm calling an ambulance."

I nod weakly, and she sits me up against the wall next to the gate.

Barely able to hold myself up even in a sitting position, I lean on Hiyori's shoulder. She doesn't protest.

The chirping of the cicadas melts into the sound of a loudspeaker by the school playing _Yuuyake, Koyake_ despite the fact that it's not even close to time for children to go home. The sky is orange now. I want to save Hiyori, I hear myself think in a rather matter-of-fact tone.

I steel myself for the task I came here to perform and croak out her name.

"Hiyori?"

"What is it?"

She'll think I'm crazy, or joking, or both.

"I came to tell you that I've been repeating the same day over and over and you keep dying every time and then I pass out and wake up on August 15th and it starts all over again."

Great. I set a land speed record for psychotic rambling.

When I'm finished, I'm even more out of breath than before. Hiyori's quiet for a long time. Finally she takes my hand. I'm startled by the warmth of it. She rests her head against my shoulder, tilted sideways, and closes her eyes.

"You too, huh?", she says, her voice even and low.

My heart stops.

My heart quite literally stops.


	3. Ticket

_Dear Ayaka_

_I'm scared._

_It's been thirty three days by my best estimate. Eventually I'm going to lose count. Not that it matters. Time has become something superficial, something for other people to worry about. The enormity of_

I had to stop. There was nothing down that path but more fear and misanthropy. I had to disengage, get out of my own head. But no matter how hard I tried, the knowledge that I would die horribly in the next 24 hours consumed me. I tossed the pen to one side and the pad of paper to the other and buried my face into the pillow, imagining a train taking me home, freeing me from this place, until fatigue overtook me.

Her first steps into the light were painful. She was barefoot, naked, and the branches outside the cave left gashes on her skin and sores on her feet. She longed for the comfort of the cave, but knew that once she was inside, the outside would call to her again. After a week, she felt a pain that her snakes told her was hunger. After two months she had killed enough animals to stitch their fur together into a shawl, and for the first time she felt warm. After ten years, she stepped into the sun for the first time and she recognized it instantly.

Heat.

"Hibiya. Hibiya, look at me", I said, shaking him gently.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

I told him to be quiet while I called an ambulance, and I think we both knew I was stalling, that I didn't know the answer. I reached into my pocket and pulled out his phone, whereupon it dissolved into sand and slipped through my fingers. Hibiya and I stared at the space where the phone had been, shocked into silence. I looked behind me and saw for the first time that nothing was real. I felt stupid for not having realized it before. I bent down and pulled on a tuft of grass, and the ground peeled away like wallpaper, releasing some kind of molten liquid beneath it that came bubbling up to the surface. It was unbearably hot. I tore another chunk of the world away, and it came off in my hands thin and elastic, like a sheet of dead skin. I must have upset whatever thin structure had been holding the world up, because the sky began to deflate, the buildings south of the playground began to crumble, and the hole I had made grew larger until the fabric of the world caught fire and disappeared like flash paper, leaving a tattered hole in space through which I could see a wall of red light. A hot wind escaped from the hole, blowing some dirt and grit into my face. I turned around, shielding myself from the gale and

suddenly I couldn't breathe my knees buckled and I collapsed into the dirt I rotate my body to look up and i can tell hibiya is dead already the air liquefies in my lungs i see the light of the train that brought me here my name is hiyori asahina how old are you i turned ten this year and you were Ayaka's sister that's right i nevermetherthoughshewouldhavelikedyouyouthinksoidoimeanyoujustmetmehiyorithat'senoughyesmaamisthereanythingicandoforyouwellifyoucould tell me something about Ayaka, I

_Would really appreciate it", I say. The man clears his throat, and it hits me that this is her husband. He's the one grieving. My curiosity will have to take a backseat. "Actually, don't worry about it. It's probably not the time", I say, and leave, burning with embarrassment. There's a group of children, four of them sitting on a padded bench away from the crowd, all looking about four years older than me. I consider introducing myself, but the three of them look like they're in mourning (did Ayaka have kids?), so I leave them alone until the oldest one approaches me._

_I say hi, and she examines me like a find-the-hidden-image puzzle._

_"My name's Hiyori. Ayaka was my sister."_

_"Oh!" she says,eyes lighting up. "I didn't know Mom had a sister."_

_"Yeah...neither did she, I don't think."_

_"Oh…well, my name's Ayano. Ayano Tateyama." She pauses for a moment. "Hey, doesn't that make you my aunt?"_

_I open my mouth to say something, but one of the other children, the girl with the green hair appears out of nowhere and whispers something into Ayano's ear._

_"Listen, I have to go, but we'll talk later okay?"_

_I nod, feeling more and more like an intruder in the funeral parlor. The rumbling of the A/C combines with the rumbling of muted conversation, and I_

Wake up around midnight from a dream I don't remember.

_After 50 years, she met a human, who ran from her. She didn't follow it._

_After 900 years, she had met more humans than she could count, and all of them feared her. Those who had rocks threw them. Those who had swords stabbed at her. Night and day, she ran from them, lonely and afraid._

_After 1000 years, they had forgotten about her. She longed for the cave, but she was hopelessly lost._

_After 300 years, she had a quiet place. The snakes told her it was called Home._

_After another century,_

_she found Love._

I stumble down the hallway for a drink, praying that I imagined all of it, but I know it's useless.

_Dear Ayaka,_

_I don't know how I feel about Hibiya. He clearly believes he's in love with me, and it's kinda pathetic the way he goes about it with his lovesick-puppy act. Maybe he'll grow on me, maybe I'll have to let him down easy. I don't know. I'll figure something out. I just wish you were here._

_With Love,_

_Hiyori Asahina_

_August 14_

I get an alert on my phone.

_Train Outbound_

_1 pass_

_station in_

_10_

_august 16_

It's our ticket out.


	4. Number Eight

_Dear Ayaka_,

_There was only one ticket._

_He and I stared at it blankly. It was dated August 16th. We were so close...well, one of us was. I took his hand and we sat down on the sleek grey bench overlooking the tracks. The train station, like the rest of the city, was abandoned. In the distance, I could occasionally hear metallic squeaking, but I didn't know the source and frankly, I didn't care. Finally, Hibiya spoke._

"_I'm sorry."_

_I asked him what for, and he said that he should have told me sooner, that if he told me now, it wouldn't mean anything because we'd never see each other again. He broke down. Buried his head between his knees and started sobbing, gasping for air, trying in vain to quiet his wailing. I didn't know what to do, so I grabbed his hand, spun him around to face me, and hugged him. He felt cold, and I embraced him the way he embraced me the first day, when I laid there dying. His tears were hot on my shoulder, and he clutched me like a life preserver. When we broke away, I directed his gaze into my eyes and held his hand._

"_This is okay, isn't it?", I asked him._

_He sniffed and said it was perfect._

"_Then let's just do this for a while."_

_We sat there, hand in hand, and started over one more time._

"_My name's Hibiya Amamiya. It's nice to finally meet you."_

"_Thank you. I'm Hiyori Asahina. We go to the same school, don't we?"_

"_Yeah. I think we even have some of the same classes."_

"_You work for the yearbook, right?"_

"_Yeah, but I'm not sure I'm gonna do it again this year."_

_We went on like that for hours. With every word, I could see him relaxing around me. With every word, we each painted a bigger and bigger picture of our respective lives. With every word, he began to love me for real. _

_And Ayaka?_

_I think I like him, too._

We talk for days. Months. Years. One bit of information for another. Back and forth. It's so much easier than I thought it would be. And then, _we go home. _

The sun is just barely tapping the tops of the skyscrapers when we make it back to Mr. Tateyama's place. Chi...no even better, Ayaka is waiting for us at the door. When we get inside, she sits us down at the table, steps into the kitchen without a word and returns with three plates of _katsudon_ balanced on her hands and elbow.

We thank her for the meal, and dig in silently, enjoying the serenity of our last night here.

Mr. Tateyama and Ayaka wake us up early, and we file into the car. Their kid, Ayano, insists on coming with us to see us off, so they buy an extra ticket.

The train ride home is long, so Hiyori and I have plenty of time to talk. Ayano brought along her CD player, and Hiyori finds an album she really likes and we share my pair of earbuds and listen to it together, her head resting on my shoulder, or maybe the other way around. We fall asleep like that.

The snow crunching underneath my feet and the blue tint to the world makes everything feel fresh. My mom checks a third time to make sure my scarf will stay on and gingerly sends me down to the bus stop, where Hiyori's waiting. We sit down on the bench together and take in the how light the city feels, how light out minds feel, how safe the cold is.

"That would be nice, wouldn't it?", she says, her breath visible in the frigid air, curling up toward the sun.

"Yeah," I mutter wistfully.

She sighs, and the steam rolls in the air.

"We all have plans", she says.

She's quiet.

"But plans change," I say.

She laughs. I love that sound.

"And that's what it boils down to. Something's gotta change, and nothing changes here."

I hear a rumbling and all at once the Heat is back, the train station, her black shirt and pink dress, my white vest and blue shirt, her hand, my hand. The train arrives. The wind buffets our hair and the edges of her dress. We lock eyes. The brakes squeak, hiss, and the doors slide open.

I'm afraid to let go of her hand. So we cross the yellow line like that. Hand in hand, mechanically, until I'm standing in the train, my left hand in hers. She hugs me, and I hug her back. Before she can break away, in a single motion I step out of the train car and push her in. I land on my back. We lock eyes. I smile the way she smiled at me before the truck hit her.

Plans change.

_Yuuyake, koyake de higakurete_

_Yama no otera no kaneganaru_

_Otete tsunaide minakaero_

_Karasu to isshoni_

_Kaeri ma shou_

"Hibiya?", she says, stunned, before the doors of the train slam shut. She smacks against the window with her palm, and I try to hold it together, I really do. She says something, but the train's already starting to move, and I can't read her lips. She runs to the back window and says the same thing, slower this time.

"I'll come back for you".

With that, the train fades away like a mirage, and it's quiet again. I hear a tapping sound on the pavement behind me, so I turn. A dark circle has formed on the concrete, two centimeters in diameter. Another one forms next to it. And another.

I feel an impact against my skin, and I twitch. The tapping intensifies, the impacts become more frequent. I look up in utter disbelief.

It's raining.

I lay back and let it wash over me. I hear a low rumbling miles away. The water is cool and refreshing. It streaks down my face and beads up on my eyelashes. I relax the muscles in my shoulders and breathe deep.

The rain is warm now. It pools on my skin, forming a kind of blanket.

I'm safe.

Hiyori is coming back for me.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The ground was hot and gritty. I was on my side, face pressed against the ground. I opened my eyes to see that the world had rotated ninety degrees. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. My mind worked, but my body had shut down completely. Suddenly, I felt a pull, and I was lifted into the air, only to come crashing down onto a soft surface, face-up. I heard a metallic rattling and all of a sudden, my body worked again. I sat up and was almost blinded by the rays of the sun reflecting off of the metallic surface of a truck. I saw someone lying face-down, brown hair splayed haphazardly around their head. I recognized the vest, and I could breathe again. I felt a force in the center of my chest, and I was back on my back. The sky had been replaced with a low white ceiling, and a blinding light dominated the center of my vision. Someone put something over my mouth and nose, and the air came into my lungs on its own. My vision blurred and shattered, then finally went black.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

_Having tasted Love and built a family, the Monster began to have nightmares of the cave. The cold, damp air that had once represented tranquility and safety for her now threatened to take her back into its gaping maw. Time kills humans, so the only answer was to make a new place. A new home, where time would not find her beloved, and this moment, this singular moment of joy, would never be taken away from her._

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I woke up in a white room, too weak to move anything but my eyes. I scanned my surroundings, feeling like I was in a dream. To my right, there was all sorts of medical equipment. An IV, a pulse monitor, other equipment I didn't recognize. There was a tray suspended on the right arm of the hospital bed, extending over to the other side. There was a glass of water with a long straw that ended centimeters away from my mouth. I took a feeble sip, and continued looking to the left. A blue curtain obscured what I assumed was another patient, maybe...maybe Hibiya.

I heard footsteps, hard shoes tapping against the harder floor, and someone pushed the curtains back slowly, and sat next to my bed. The stranger's clothes looked familiar, but I couldn't remember where I'd seen them before, and my guard went up. The stranger glanced at the pulse monitor. The beeping was speeding up, I realized.

"Please relax," she said in a low, but still decidedly feminine voice. "My name is Tsubomi Kido."

I stared at her, silent.

Taking that as a signal to continue, she said,"You were in an accident. You and your friend. I'm your...". She trailed off and looked up at the ceiling, remembering something complicated. "...Step-cousin, I suppose? Half-cousin?" She shook her head. "Your niece was my adoptive sister, and we're taking you home until this all gets fixed".

"We?" I rasped.

"Yeah. Your niece...left an impact on a lot of people. And we look after our own."

Our own. My niece...Ayano. An eerie feeling of tranquility crept up my back.

"Okay. But you need to take Hibiya too."

I caught her off guard with that. "Oh...Hibiya Amamiya?", she stammered.

I nodded.

She sighed and put her hand on my shoulder. I felt like the ground had disappeared out from under me.

"Listen, he's not..."

I shook my head. "I'm not gonna leave him here. I'm not gonna leave him, period."

"Kid, he isn't-"

"Ms. Kido, I made him a promise. He's waiting at the train station for me, and I'm not going to leave him there."

I pushed the tray aside and stepped onto the floor. I was barefoot, and the tile was freezing. I had the good sense to rip the IV out of my arm before I started walking. The visitor, Tsubomi, grabbed me by the arm. I wheeled around and looked her in the eye.

"Let go of me!"

She did.

"Sit down."

She did.

My eyes burned, and I wasn't sure if it was because of the light or because of the tears I was fighting to keep in.

I pushed the curtain aside and saw Hibiya there. I could tell from where I stood that he was dead.

All of a sudden, exhaustion overtook me and I fell to my knees.

I felt like I was going to throw up. Tsubomi picked me up with surprising ease, and I wanted to protest, wanted to tell her that I want to lie here and die with him, but instead I buried my face in her jacket and wailed.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

_Dear Ayaka,_

_Today is August 16th. I should be happy. I should be enjoying this moment. But all I can think of is what's next. _

_I made a promise. One that I intend to keep._

_With Love,_

_Hiyori Asahina_

_Mekakushi Dan member No. 8_


End file.
